NEW YORK
New York Times

By SHARON OTTERMAN
NOV. 2, 2014

Roman Catholics across the Archdiocese of New York are poised to learn the fate of their local churches on Sunday, as church leaders from Staten Island to the Catskills announce which parishes will be eliminated in the largest reorganization plan in the history of the archdiocese.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop, said last week that Catholics should expect that about 14 percent — or just over 50 — of the archdiocese’s 368 parishes would be merged with other parishes by next year. The mergers will end the independent existence of those parishes and may lead to the closing and sale of church buildings.

Many of the mergers are expected in the Bronx and Manhattan, where Cardinal Dolan has said that a declining Catholic population means that there is no longer a need for 88 parishes, some…